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Otfice ot Hie Librarian
Hoon, mr,. CnvUn]
Fallon County Times
O ^ • -t '* - -
VOLUME NO. 45
BAKER, MONTANA, THURSDAY, JANUARY 1, 1959
NUMBER TWO
Total 1958 Montana Crop Production
Second Only To Record Set In 1955
The aggregate production of
•crops in Montana this year was
second in size only to the record
]955 harvest. It was 7% percent
•above production last year and
21 1-3 percent more than the average for the preceding 10 years.
This was reported Tuesday by
the federal - state Agricultural
Marketing Service, which said severe drought in the northeastern
bounties prevented attainment of
a new record harvest from an
acreage "appreciably smaller"
Than that haivested in 1955.
The report said the 1958 crop
season opened with adequate soil
moisture to induce favorable
growth of winter wheat and rye
and to germinate spring planted
crops. But moisture supplies diminished with unseasonably hot
and dry weather in the last half
of May. Little relief was felt until August.
The government agency said
about S.4 million tons of crops
were harvested in Montana, compared with 7.8 million tons last
year and the 1947-56 average of
6.9 million.
Total value was estimated at
274.4 million dollars, compared
with 264.5 million in 1957.
■Highlighting the season were a
harvest of nearly 100.7 million
bushels of wheat, the third largest crop on record, and a record
barley production of 49 million
bushels.
Montana trailed only Kansas,
North Dakota, Oklahoma and Nebraska in wheat production.
-Acreage harvested in 1958 hit
8,792,000, about 232,000 acres less
than last year and 254,000 acres
above the 10-year average. The
winter wheat acreage reached' a
new high and amounted to 54 percent of the total wheat acreage.
Acreage increases also were recorded in spring wheat, rye, mustard and potatoes. They were over
ehadowed, however, by declines in
corn, durum wheat, oats, barley,
flaxseed, dry beans, dry peas, su-
Solon Advocates
Legal Gambling;
Fights Sales Tax
BUTTE — A member of Silver
Bow county's delegation to the
state House of Representatives
said Sunday he was for a legalized gambling measure which
would toe introduced during the
coming legislative session.
John V. Healy, a Democrat and.
unemployed miner, said he could
name about 10 other representatives from Western Montana who
would support the measure to,
combat a sales tax proposal.
"I'm for legalized gambling,"
Healy told reporters. He said he
did not know who would introduce the measure, nor who would
sponsor it.
"I would like to see it (gambling)" he said. "It would be a
revenue measure, a tourist attraction and would build up the
state, I think."
Healy said the bill was still in
ihe draft stage but that it would
"legalize games like 21, crap, roulette, bingo, stuff like that like
(in) Reno."
The bill has the support, Heaiy
said, of legislators and tavern
owners "who don't want to put
•their necks out" -to support it
"until the 'bill is drawn up."
Laid ofif from his job in June,
Healy said he had not worked
since except at "odd jobs."
Montana, in addition .to needing
the measure, Healy said, has resorts and scenery to attract tourists. But more tourists would
visit the state if the legislature
moves to legalize gambling, he
.said.
During four months of 1952
Healy said he was a bingo dealer
in a Reno, Nev.; gambling club.
"It's a dirty shame we can't
have the same thing," be said.
He also said that all the state
representatives he had .talked to
were opposed to a sales tax, which
also has been mentioned as a possibility to help get the state out
of the' red.
"All are opposed to it," he said,
adding that be would support the
proposed gambling measure because he was "for legalized gambling" and supported the measure "to combat the sales tax."
gar beets, hay, alfalfa seed, sweet
clover seed and crested wheat
_;rass seed.
Yields per acre for most crops
exceeded both last year and the
10-year averages. The winter
wheat yield, 26.3 bushels per acre,
equalled the record established in
1955 and durum matched its high
1955 figure.
Reduced prices for most items
were more than offset by larger
production, the report said. Wheat
tumbled from $1.84 to $1.61 a
bushel, but the greater harvest
boosted its value to 162.2 million
dollais, compared with 150.9 million dollars in 19.57.
-#>-
Good Winter
Wheat Crop
Is Predicted
HELENA — Montana's winter
wheat production next year will
be less than the 1958 record but
well above average, the government predicted Tuesday.
The federal-State Agricultural
Marketing Service said seedings
for the _959 crop were reduced
and germination was only fair o:i
much of the acreage due to insufficient moisture. Production is
forecast at 45,650,000 bushels, as
compared with a record 63,369,000
bushels this year.
Fall seeding is estimated at 2,-
015;000 acres, about 14 percent less
than the 2,413,000 acres seeded a
year ago.
It still, however, is the third
largest acreage of record. The 1955
seeding was 2,118,000 acres.
The report said the most noticeable decrease in seedings from
last year was in the northcentral
area, where the acreage was down
25 to 30 percent. Decreases of 6
to 10 percent were listed for central, southeastern and southwestern counties, tempered by moderate increases in the northeastern
and south central counties and a
larger area west of the Continental Divide.
The 45,650,000 bushel forecast is
28 percent below the .1958 production, about 374,000 bushels
more than the 1957 harvest and
34 percent above the 1948-57 average.
A y'ield of 22 bushels per acre
is indicated by Dec. 1 conditions,
compared with the 1958 yield, of
26.3 bushels.
The report noted that the production forecast takes into account
that winter survival as well as
the weather next spring and summer are expected to be about average.
Rye seedings in the state this
fall are estimated at 40,000 acres,
down 3,000 from last fall, but 8,-
000 acres above the 1948-57 aver
age.
-&?
Hospital News
Admitted:
From Baker: Mrs. Louis Blaser,
Rhonda Long, Lila Twiford, Martha Jo Whitcher, Dennis K. Mec-
sage, and Mrs. Richard Singer.
Also admitted were: Wm. Buerkle,
Plevna, and Rueben Welke, Carlyle.
Births:
Mrs. Paul Zachmann, Baker, a
boy, born Dec. 24, 1598.
Dismissed:
Baker: Mrs. Ralph Keeoh, Lynda Koenig, Mrs. Louis Blaser, Lila Twiford, Rhonda Long, Mrs.
Richard Singer and Mrs. Paul
Zachmann and baby. Also dismissed were Oasey Rost, Ismay,
Mrs. Earl Stark Sr., Carlyle, Steven Theilen, Plevna, Wm. Buerkle,
Plevna, and Rueben Welke, Carlyle.
Out Patients:
Ernie Kruger, Andry Ackerman,
Corrine • Hackett, Becky Woodward, Gary Taylor, Thomas Hamilton, Grady Martin, Willard Malcom, Henry Logar, Robyn Runck,
Elna. Faye Pratt, Bonnie Fleege,
Harvey Kile, Carl Gunderson, Leif
Holmlund, Robert Hoke and Mary
Lee Martin, all of Baker; and Dale
Stanton, Plevna, John Lentz, Superior, and Robert Rieth, Marmarth, N. D.
Home From College
Robert Smith is spending the
holidays visiting at the home of
his mother, Mrs. Josephine Smith.
He is a.student at MSC, Bozeman.
Montana Employment Picture Some
Better Than For Last Two Years
HELENA—An estimated 164,-
200 Montanans were on non-agricultural payrolls in mid-November, a state agency reported last
week.
The seasonal decline of 4,000
workers from October was less
than in the past -two years, said
Chairman Chadwick H. Smith of
the Unemployment Compensation
Commission.
The October to' November' drop
last year was 5,100. lt was 4,400
in 1956.
Smith said the present employment total reflects generally improved conditions in metal mining
and lumbering-logging, a longer
construction season and increased
hiring in industries unaffected by
weather or other seasonal factors.
Montana workers in manufacturing are faring well, Smith went
on. Latest figures show their
moss weekly earning in October
was S95 05. up $10 from the com
parable 1957 period. The national
average for October was $84.35.
Smith said the Montana average
was higher than those of six other
mountain states.
Most of the seasonal reduction
in the labor force was in three
major, industrial- groups, the UCC
chairman said.
Contract construction, with a 7.7
per , cent;- employment drop from5
October* to November, was 2,100
workers above last year. 1
" In" the manufacturing group,*
lumbering jobs were down 5.1
percent, or 400 workers.
In metal mining, a net gain of
500 employees brightened the
Butte area labor picture.
Smith looks for moderate employment advances to continue in
some industry groups this winter.
Eut, he said, the "usual winter
slowdown can be expected to affect most industries during the
next 10 to 12 weeks."
Baker Pioneer
Dies of Seizure
Everett Plummer, 68, retired
Fallon county farmer,- died Christmas morning at his home in Baker of a heart attack after suffering influenza.
From 1919, when he came to
Montana from Nebraska, Mr.
Plummer 'farmed in the Ollie
community until moving to Bak-
ei eight years ago.
He was born Nov. 23, 1890, in
Harlan, Iowa, a son of Mr. and
Mrs. Taylor Plummer. He married Stella Head in 1912 in Omaha, Nebr. She survives him as
Jo five sons, Patrick and Francis Plummer of Baker, James and
Charles Plummer of Helena and
Cecil Plummer of Lewistown; two
daughters, Mrs. Gloria Smeltzer
and Mrs. Bonnie Goroski, both of
Baker; two brothers, Charles
Plummer of Randolph, Nebr., and
Lee Plummer of Baker; four sisters, Mrs. Mary Westrope, Mrs.
Dave Larson, Mrs. Maude B. Miller and Mrs. Jennie Obert, all of
Harlan, and 23 grandchildren. One
son, Elliot, preceded Mr. Plummer in death.
Funeral services were conducted at 2 p.m. Monday from Stevenson Funeral Home with interment was in Bonnievale cemetery.
Special music for the final services was played by Fritz Bruggeman at the organ, with Duane
Waterland singing, "Beyond the
Sunset" and "Beautiful Isle of
Somewhere." Rev. (Richard Auer
of the Glendive E.U.B. Evangelical United Brethern church officiated.
Pallbearers were Willard Malcom, Henning Steen, Jim O'Con-
ner, Roland Schrader, Ross Com-
eron and Ernie Stark. Honorary
pallbearers were Sam Barkley,
Claude Schouboe, Wallace Pratt,
Wally Hufford, Ed Paulson, Howard Stark, Carl Rose, Carl Thompson and Elmer Wang.
<S
Baker Chamber
Gives Youngsters
Christmas Treats
Youngsters of the Baker trade
area had a good go of it this
year at Christmas time, thanks to
the cooperation of the Baker
Chamber of Commerce, .who sponsored a Santa Claus and also set
four evening shows for the Kids!
Santa held forth in the north
room of the Lake Theatre building in the afternoons on Tuesdays,
Thursdays and Saturdays during
the month of-December f visiting
with the individual kiddies and
inquiring as to their wishes. Santa
also passed out a goodly amount
of favors to the youngsters during his visits here. Some eight
to nine hundred children visited
the jolly old gent.
Management at the theatre estimate that nearly 300 youngsters
attended the shows each night.
This plan enabled the parents to
do their shopping at ease, knowing
their children were safe, warm and
well entertained. There were four
separate shows arranged by the
Chamber of Commerce in cooperation with the theatre management.
$
Measles Tops on
State Disease List
HELENA — Measles continue
to lead the list of communicable
diseases in Montana.
The Board of Health report last
Wednesday, however, showed tha
incidence of disease last week ln
the state was below that of the
previous week. Measles continued
ahead of last year's pace, but influenza lagged.
The 144 measles cases reported
in the week ended Dec. 20 compares with 308 the previous week.
So far this year there have been
8,197 cases of this disease, almost
twice as many as a year ago.
There were 37 flu cases during
the week, about half the previous
week's total, 82 chicken pox cases
compared with 130 and 47 strep
cases, compared with 48.
Last year at this time, 24,921 flu
cases had been reported to the
state board. This year the fiirure
is 4,615.
» .
Hunters Reminded
To Retain Licenses
Fisherman are remined to hold
on to ytheir current licenses if
they intend to fish between the
first of the year and April. 30th.
The license year does not coincide with the calendar year but
begins May 1st.
"Saving of .this re,dent $3.00
Class A bird and fish license will
also eliminate the need to. fill
out a . special application fornr
w-iich had'been required for the
purchase of the 1959 license," Bob
Turnbull, chief cleric of the fish
and same department, explained.
Next year persons having -their
1958 licenses need only present
their old licenses in order to purchase the new permit, he said.
Special application forms will
be filled (Hit only for persons
buying the Class A licenses for
the first time and also for those
who have lost or destroyed their
previous year's license.
<$ _—
FIRST 1959 MEETING OF
C. OF C. FEBRUARY «th
Postmaster K. O. Lentz, • president J_f the Baker Chamber of
Commerce announces that the
first meeting of the local group
will be held February 6, 1959.
All members are urged to attend.
Social Security
Tax Boosted by
$2 Month in'59
WASHINGTON—The New Year
will bring a payroll .tax boost of
about $2 a month for most of the
75 million working Americans
covered by social security.
For the 12 million persons now
on the retired rolls, 1959 will
bring a seven percent increase in
old-age pension checks.
In a related area, administrators of private employee welfare
and pension funds for the first
time must file annual reports to
the government on their trusteeship. The various plans are estimated to be worth more, than 30
billion dollars.
The new requirements in the
law are the work of the last Congress.
The new Congress will be asked
to consider further changes.* Some
members of Congress would like
to add medical benefits to social
security coverage.
This year's revision of.the Social Security Law means that government pension checks mailed
out in February will.'be seven percent higher than before, with a
minimum increase of $3.
The maximum pension for a retired man and his wife, both past
65, will rise from $162.80 to $174
a month. Couples retiring in the
future will be able .to draw up to
$190 a month. For families with a
large number of dependents, the
maximum benefit check goes up
from $200 to $254 a month.
The cost of -the increased benefits will be borne toy active workers and employers, who are required to match their employees'
tax contribution.
For both, the social security tax
rate will go up from 2% to 2%
percent, and the amount of annual earnings on which the tax
is levied from $4,200 to $4,800 a
year.
This will mean that employees
earning the full $4,800 must pay
$120 a year starting Jan. 1 instead of the old amount of $94 50
This works out to around $2 a
month. The self employed worker
instead of paying 3 3-8 percent on
the first $4,200 of his earnings
will pay 3 3-4 percent on the first
$4,800.
The revision of the law also
makes it easier to qualify for government old age benefits and to
earn additional income.
-o-
:t
County Seal Sale
Total At $1,162.25
Baker, Montana
December 30, 1958
Dear Fallon County Friends:
As we near the end of the year,
1958, I want all of you to know
the report that has been mailed
to Helena, for the first six weeks
of the annual Tuberculosis Seal
Sale in Fallon County.
We, as a County, have given
$1,152.25 to date and I feel it has
been gratifying to work with the
people of Fallon County and my
committee in this worthy cause.
Second reminders to those who
have forgotten their letters will
be mailed soon, in compliance
with the State Tuberculosis Association directions.
Man}- of the rural schools have
not-returned the pencil sales and
we hope other late returns will
increase giving this year, as Fallon County ranked seventh in giving last year with an average of
11 cents per person, and as in all
other fields, expense of the tubur-
cular patients has risen, in a field
that expenses have always been
high.
May your New Year be Blest!
Mrs. H. C. Yokley.
1 *
Police Actions
Light Past Week
•Baker city police report an accident occurring Dec. _27, at the
corner of Montana Ave and 4th
St. West.
Everett B. Lentz, Baker, was
•turning left from Montana Ave.,
onto 4th St. West when hit by
the vehicle, driven by Earl Wiseman, also of Baker, who was traveling north on 4th St. West. The
Wiseman car was damaged in the
left front fender and head light
while the Lentz car was damaged
in the left rear door and panel.
Other police actions included:
Tom -Hamilton appeared before
Police Judge Herbst on reckless
driving citation issued by police
department Dec. 29, 1958. Plead
guilty as charged and was fined
$25.00. Earl Wiseman appeared
'before Police Judge Herbst on
a careless driving ticket issued
by the city police department.
Entered plea of guilty and fine
was set at $10.00. First offense.
9fc—-
WEATHER
Courtesy of MDU
Hi LO Pep.
Dec. 17 36 24
Dec. 18 38 11
Dec. 19 24 7
Dec. 20 35 11
Dec. 21 45 16
Dec. 22 __36 10
Dec. 23 33 6
Dec. 24 i_36 6
Dec. 25 —.35 9
Dec. 26 38 14'
Dec. 27 43 16
Dec. 28 18 5
Dec. 29 34 5
Jaycees Hold
Lively Meeting
The final meeting of the Junior
Chamber of Commerce for 1958
had the members reporting on
and discussing many varied items.
Five new members were introduced to the club, and at this time
the team headed by Leon Newell
showed a lead of one member.
A letter from State President
Jake Jensen stated it would be
possible for his to change his visitation date to correspond with
the Outstanding Young Farmer
Banquet, Feb. 6, 1959.
A report on the OFY program
was given by Gene Wellenstein.
A candidate must be sent into
Lewistown, Feb. 7, and a suggestion was made that a committee
be set up to take charge of arrangements for the banquet. This
was tabled until the next meeting.
The shopping tour, in which
three families participates, the
children up to ages eleven being
taken on a tour to buy gifts for
other members of their families,
and those over the ages of eleven
were issued gift certificates to enable them to purchase something
for themselves. And a work crew
was set, with Leon Newell in
charge, for the dismantling of the
large tree at the end of Main.
An independent basketball tournament has been set, with eight
teams participating. Dates for the
tourney are January 16, 17, 18.
Tom Melby, Bob Gordon, Leon
Newell, Bill Gluyas and Monte
Stanhope are in charge of details.
Charter for the Boy Scouts will
be due again this year and Baker
still needs a Scout Master. The
Explorer Scout unit has their
charter drawn up and is about
ready to go into action.
&
County Wheat
Growers May Join
State Association
All wheat growers from Fallon
county and northern Carter county are asked to meet in the American Legion hall, Baker, Friday,
Jan. 9 at 1:30 p.m. to decide if
they ' should organize a county
chapter of the Montana Grain
Growers Association.
Plans have been made to have
Ivan Dehlman, state president,
and the directors of the Rosebud
County Grain Growers Association,
present to explain the objectives
and plans of the state group, as
well as assist Fallon county farmers in organizing'-an association
if they feel it is worthwhile.
•Briefly, the Montana Grain
Growers Association is organized
to:
1. Promote research to develop
new varieties which are better
suited to milling qualities, disease
resistance, adaptability to moisture -conditions, winter hardiness,
etc.
2. Promote research to increase
the efficiency of the production
process.
3. Maintain liaison with other
service groups of the wheat grower.
4. Promote sales and advertisement of our quality wheat and
thus increase its demand.
For further details concerning
the meeting, contact your local
county agent.
Soldier Killed in Fall
From Train Dec 22;
Authorities Stymied
The death of a soldier, in what
appears to be a fall from a speeding Milwaukee Road passenger
train last Monday evening, got the
special attention of railroad and
Army investigators, local authorities, with the possibility of the
FBI entering at a later date.
The badly broken body of Army
Pfc, Donald Gerold Martin, 20.
Base Line, Mich., was found early
«VWVWVMMAMAViAAMM
COMINGJVENTT
Thurs-, Jan. 1 - Thurs., Jan. 8.
Thursday, Jan. 1: New Year's Day.
Monday, Jan. 5: County Commissioners meet. Library Board, 8
p.m- Democratic Womens Club,
8 p.m. at the home of Mrs. Flace
Phebus.
Tuesday, Jan. 6: County Commissioners meet. City Council, city
hall, 8 p.m. Installation of officers, Royal Neighbors, Grainger's hall.
Wednesday, Jan. 7: County Commissioners meet. Lutheran W.
M. F., 2 p.m. St. John's Altar
Society, 8 p.m.
Thursday, Jan. 8: Sportsman's
Club, Legion hali, 8 p.m.
Highway Patrol
Asks Implied
Consent Statute
HELENA — Introduction of an
Implied Consent Law to help
curb driving by intoxicated motorists will be sought in the 36th
Montana Legislature by the Highway Patrol, supervisor Alex Step-
hanson said Tuesday.
Stephenson said that driving
while intoxicated is the leading
source of death and destruction on
Montana highways today and that
according to blood alcohol tests the
state's death toll because of drinking drivers is "probably the highest of any state in the nation."
"Of the 100 drivers killed, 54 or
54 percent had been drinking.
Fifteen of the 62 passengers killed, or 24 percent, also had been
drinking, and 28 percent of the
pedestrians killed had been drinking.
"The total of all persons killed
in traffic accidents who had been
drinking is 41 percent," he said.
"To combat this cause of death
and destruction on our streets and
highways, we are going to ask the
Legislators to enact into statute
the Implied Consent Law. This
law has been enacted in several
states already, and has proved
very effective, besides enjoying
good public acceptance.
"The outstanding feature of this
law is the p'ovision that a person, beiieved to have been driving
in an intoxicated condition, was
deemed to have given his consent
to a chemical test for the purpose
of determining the alcoholic content of his blood.
"Should he refuse to submit to
a test, his privilege to drive would
be revoked," Stephenson said.
"The test is not compulsory and
is taken only after an arrest is
made.
"With our present chemical
testing program slowly deteriorating, because of refusal on the part
of suspects to have a test made,
as provided for in the present
statute, it now becomes imperative that our lawmakers give serious consideration to the enactment of the Implied Consent Law,
or continue a losing fight against
Montana's No. 1 killer on the
highways."
o-.
Income Tax Boost
Foreseen by Solon
Rep. Charles Cerovski, FergTis
county Democrat, said in Lewis-
town that it appears the 36th
legislative session will have tq,
"increase the net income tax
law."
The 36-year-old veteran lawmaker said that the tax increase
is coming "if for no other reason
than to assume the $5 million
deficit now existing in the state
treasury."
Cerovski, serving his fourth
term, is considered as a candidate for the majority flood leadership in the state's lower legislative chamber.
He said Montana's revenue
troubles stemmed in part from
the 'State's competing with other
states of larger population in offering resident services.
"The per unit, cost to operate
our institutions and colleges is
greater than in states with larger
populations because, as in business, greater volume decreases
per unit overhead," he said.
"It takes proportionately less
to run a 10,000-studeiit university
than it does to finance a 5,000-
student school," he continued.
Tuesday afternoon along the Milwaukee railroad right-of-way five
miles east of Ismay. The body
was discovered by the railroad
section crew working in that territory, who reported to authorities.
Martin is assumed to have fallen
from the Milwaukee passenger,
passing over this section of track
Monday evening about 6:30 p.m.
He was returning to his home at
Base Line for the Christmas holidays, having just finished a tour
of duty in Korea. He was attached to Co. A, 8th Signal Bn.,
Fort Lawton, Wash.
Coroner Lee H. Stevenson 6aid
Martin's 'body had bounced and
rolled for some 160 feet from the
first legible point of impact. Although badly battered, there was
no sign that any portion .oi the
train had passed over his body.
Money and identification was
found on the body, allaying the
suspicion that he had been robbed
and thrown from the train.
The method of Martin's departure from -the train is not known
at this time, and while a' coroner's
jury was impaneled, and viewed
the scene and the body, no decision will be made until the investigation has been completed. Members of the jury were Ed Aldinger,
George Schweigert, Harold Davidson, Leon Reiger, Jack Long,
Clyde Burns and Dick O'Conner.
Officials are checking in Chicago, Seattle and Detroit with possible passengers and the train to
determine factors in the case. Oscar Avedisian, special army investigator was in Baker Saturday
and with Undersheriff" Terry
Cameron, visited the scene and
other places in the territory. Avedisian returned to Camp Hanford,
Wash., following his work here.
A complete report of the findings
will be given when finished.
An Army escort arrived in Baker Friday evening and accompanied the remains to Base Line,
leaving here Saturday evening.
1
Address Report
Program Helps in
Naturalization
HELENA — James M. Sweet,
district director, Helena, of the
Immigration and Naturalization
Service states that the annual alien address report program usually causes a sharp rise in the number of applications for naturalization.
The law requires all aliens in
the United States, with few exceptions, to report their address each
January. Throughout the United
States, almost thirty percent more
applications for naturalization are
received during the months of
\J-anuary, February and March
than are received during other
months. Mr. Sweet attributes this
sudden rise to the Alien Address
Report Program.
Aliens not required to make this
report are diplomats, those accredited to certain international
organizations and those who have
entered temporarily as agricultural workers.
Forms for making the reports
will be available, to aliens at all
Post Offices and offices of the
Immigation and Naturalization
Service during the month of January. Mr. Sweet indicated that
aliens desiring information concerning naturalization or similar
matters should obtain the forms
at an office of , the Immigration
and Naturalization Service where
personnel trained in these fields,
will be available to answer all
inquiries.
-<»-
THREE CHANGES IN
COUNTY OFFICERS
Only three changes will be made
in county offices Monday when
T. Wallace Hufford will replace
Leo Steffes as sheriff, Denzil R.
Young will take over the office
of county attorney from Gene
Huntley, and J. M. Steffes Sr., will
vacate the office of county commissioner, to be replaced by Jake
Ehret.
i.V.A O v. "! j A
ONLY 28 POUNDS—The Army's new 7.62mm machine run could ere a be fired this war
as shown by Jim Murphy of the Springfield, Mass., Armory. The new weapon will eventually
replace all Army .St caliber machine guns, tome models of which ditto back to World War L

This collection encompasses newspapers published in the Baker, Montana area from 1916 forward.

Creator

Mrs. L. K. Lathrop, Editor and Manager

Genre (Short List)

newspapers

Type

Text

Language

en

Date Original

1959

Subject

Newspaper of the community of Baker, Fallon County, Montana.

Rights Management

Copyright to this collection owned by Country Media, Inc. of Tillamook, Oregon. Permission may be required for use and/or reproductions. Items published before 1923 are in the public domain.

Contributing Institution

Fallon County Library

Digital Format

image/tiff

Digitization Specifications

Microfilm scanned at 300 dpi, 8 bit gray scale, Abby Reader

Date Digital

2014

Transcript

Otfice ot Hie Librarian
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Fallon County Times
O ^ • -t '* - -
VOLUME NO. 45
BAKER, MONTANA, THURSDAY, JANUARY 1, 1959
NUMBER TWO
Total 1958 Montana Crop Production
Second Only To Record Set In 1955
The aggregate production of
•crops in Montana this year was
second in size only to the record
]955 harvest. It was 7% percent
•above production last year and
21 1-3 percent more than the average for the preceding 10 years.
This was reported Tuesday by
the federal - state Agricultural
Marketing Service, which said severe drought in the northeastern
bounties prevented attainment of
a new record harvest from an
acreage "appreciably smaller"
Than that haivested in 1955.
The report said the 1958 crop
season opened with adequate soil
moisture to induce favorable
growth of winter wheat and rye
and to germinate spring planted
crops. But moisture supplies diminished with unseasonably hot
and dry weather in the last half
of May. Little relief was felt until August.
The government agency said
about S.4 million tons of crops
were harvested in Montana, compared with 7.8 million tons last
year and the 1947-56 average of
6.9 million.
Total value was estimated at
274.4 million dollars, compared
with 264.5 million in 1957.
■Highlighting the season were a
harvest of nearly 100.7 million
bushels of wheat, the third largest crop on record, and a record
barley production of 49 million
bushels.
Montana trailed only Kansas,
North Dakota, Oklahoma and Nebraska in wheat production.
-Acreage harvested in 1958 hit
8,792,000, about 232,000 acres less
than last year and 254,000 acres
above the 10-year average. The
winter wheat acreage reached' a
new high and amounted to 54 percent of the total wheat acreage.
Acreage increases also were recorded in spring wheat, rye, mustard and potatoes. They were over
ehadowed, however, by declines in
corn, durum wheat, oats, barley,
flaxseed, dry beans, dry peas, su-
Solon Advocates
Legal Gambling;
Fights Sales Tax
BUTTE — A member of Silver
Bow county's delegation to the
state House of Representatives
said Sunday he was for a legalized gambling measure which
would toe introduced during the
coming legislative session.
John V. Healy, a Democrat and.
unemployed miner, said he could
name about 10 other representatives from Western Montana who
would support the measure to,
combat a sales tax proposal.
"I'm for legalized gambling"
Healy told reporters. He said he
did not know who would introduce the measure, nor who would
sponsor it.
"I would like to see it (gambling)" he said. "It would be a
revenue measure, a tourist attraction and would build up the
state, I think."
Healy said the bill was still in
ihe draft stage but that it would
"legalize games like 21, crap, roulette, bingo, stuff like that like
(in) Reno."
The bill has the support, Heaiy
said, of legislators and tavern
owners "who don't want to put
•their necks out" -to support it
"until the 'bill is drawn up."
Laid ofif from his job in June,
Healy said he had not worked
since except at "odd jobs."
Montana, in addition .to needing
the measure, Healy said, has resorts and scenery to attract tourists. But more tourists would
visit the state if the legislature
moves to legalize gambling, he
.said.
During four months of 1952
Healy said he was a bingo dealer
in a Reno, Nev.; gambling club.
"It's a dirty shame we can't
have the same thing" be said.
He also said that all the state
representatives he had .talked to
were opposed to a sales tax, which
also has been mentioned as a possibility to help get the state out
of the' red.
"All are opposed to it" he said,
adding that be would support the
proposed gambling measure because he was "for legalized gambling" and supported the measure "to combat the sales tax."
gar beets, hay, alfalfa seed, sweet
clover seed and crested wheat
_;rass seed.
Yields per acre for most crops
exceeded both last year and the
10-year averages. The winter
wheat yield, 26.3 bushels per acre,
equalled the record established in
1955 and durum matched its high
1955 figure.
Reduced prices for most items
were more than offset by larger
production, the report said. Wheat
tumbled from $1.84 to $1.61 a
bushel, but the greater harvest
boosted its value to 162.2 million
dollais, compared with 150.9 million dollars in 19.57.
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Good Winter
Wheat Crop
Is Predicted
HELENA — Montana's winter
wheat production next year will
be less than the 1958 record but
well above average, the government predicted Tuesday.
The federal-State Agricultural
Marketing Service said seedings
for the _959 crop were reduced
and germination was only fair o:i
much of the acreage due to insufficient moisture. Production is
forecast at 45,650,000 bushels, as
compared with a record 63,369,000
bushels this year.
Fall seeding is estimated at 2,-
015;000 acres, about 14 percent less
than the 2,413,000 acres seeded a
year ago.
It still, however, is the third
largest acreage of record. The 1955
seeding was 2,118,000 acres.
The report said the most noticeable decrease in seedings from
last year was in the northcentral
area, where the acreage was down
25 to 30 percent. Decreases of 6
to 10 percent were listed for central, southeastern and southwestern counties, tempered by moderate increases in the northeastern
and south central counties and a
larger area west of the Continental Divide.
The 45,650,000 bushel forecast is
28 percent below the .1958 production, about 374,000 bushels
more than the 1957 harvest and
34 percent above the 1948-57 average.
A y'ield of 22 bushels per acre
is indicated by Dec. 1 conditions,
compared with the 1958 yield, of
26.3 bushels.
The report noted that the production forecast takes into account
that winter survival as well as
the weather next spring and summer are expected to be about average.
Rye seedings in the state this
fall are estimated at 40,000 acres,
down 3,000 from last fall, but 8,-
000 acres above the 1948-57 aver
age.
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Hospital News
Admitted:
From Baker: Mrs. Louis Blaser,
Rhonda Long, Lila Twiford, Martha Jo Whitcher, Dennis K. Mec-
sage, and Mrs. Richard Singer.
Also admitted were: Wm. Buerkle,
Plevna, and Rueben Welke, Carlyle.
Births:
Mrs. Paul Zachmann, Baker, a
boy, born Dec. 24, 1598.
Dismissed:
Baker: Mrs. Ralph Keeoh, Lynda Koenig, Mrs. Louis Blaser, Lila Twiford, Rhonda Long, Mrs.
Richard Singer and Mrs. Paul
Zachmann and baby. Also dismissed were Oasey Rost, Ismay,
Mrs. Earl Stark Sr., Carlyle, Steven Theilen, Plevna, Wm. Buerkle,
Plevna, and Rueben Welke, Carlyle.
Out Patients:
Ernie Kruger, Andry Ackerman,
Corrine • Hackett, Becky Woodward, Gary Taylor, Thomas Hamilton, Grady Martin, Willard Malcom, Henry Logar, Robyn Runck,
Elna. Faye Pratt, Bonnie Fleege,
Harvey Kile, Carl Gunderson, Leif
Holmlund, Robert Hoke and Mary
Lee Martin, all of Baker; and Dale
Stanton, Plevna, John Lentz, Superior, and Robert Rieth, Marmarth, N. D.
Home From College
Robert Smith is spending the
holidays visiting at the home of
his mother, Mrs. Josephine Smith.
He is a.student at MSC, Bozeman.
Montana Employment Picture Some
Better Than For Last Two Years
HELENA—An estimated 164,-
200 Montanans were on non-agricultural payrolls in mid-November, a state agency reported last
week.
The seasonal decline of 4,000
workers from October was less
than in the past -two years, said
Chairman Chadwick H. Smith of
the Unemployment Compensation
Commission.
The October to' November' drop
last year was 5,100. lt was 4,400
in 1956.
Smith said the present employment total reflects generally improved conditions in metal mining
and lumbering-logging, a longer
construction season and increased
hiring in industries unaffected by
weather or other seasonal factors.
Montana workers in manufacturing are faring well, Smith went
on. Latest figures show their
moss weekly earning in October
was S95 05. up $10 from the com
parable 1957 period. The national
average for October was $84.35.
Smith said the Montana average
was higher than those of six other
mountain states.
Most of the seasonal reduction
in the labor force was in three
major, industrial- groups, the UCC
chairman said.
Contract construction, with a 7.7
per , cent;- employment drop from5
October* to November, was 2,100
workers above last year. 1
" In" the manufacturing group,*
lumbering jobs were down 5.1
percent, or 400 workers.
In metal mining, a net gain of
500 employees brightened the
Butte area labor picture.
Smith looks for moderate employment advances to continue in
some industry groups this winter.
Eut, he said, the "usual winter
slowdown can be expected to affect most industries during the
next 10 to 12 weeks."
Baker Pioneer
Dies of Seizure
Everett Plummer, 68, retired
Fallon county farmer,- died Christmas morning at his home in Baker of a heart attack after suffering influenza.
From 1919, when he came to
Montana from Nebraska, Mr.
Plummer 'farmed in the Ollie
community until moving to Bak-
ei eight years ago.
He was born Nov. 23, 1890, in
Harlan, Iowa, a son of Mr. and
Mrs. Taylor Plummer. He married Stella Head in 1912 in Omaha, Nebr. She survives him as
Jo five sons, Patrick and Francis Plummer of Baker, James and
Charles Plummer of Helena and
Cecil Plummer of Lewistown; two
daughters, Mrs. Gloria Smeltzer
and Mrs. Bonnie Goroski, both of
Baker; two brothers, Charles
Plummer of Randolph, Nebr., and
Lee Plummer of Baker; four sisters, Mrs. Mary Westrope, Mrs.
Dave Larson, Mrs. Maude B. Miller and Mrs. Jennie Obert, all of
Harlan, and 23 grandchildren. One
son, Elliot, preceded Mr. Plummer in death.
Funeral services were conducted at 2 p.m. Monday from Stevenson Funeral Home with interment was in Bonnievale cemetery.
Special music for the final services was played by Fritz Bruggeman at the organ, with Duane
Waterland singing, "Beyond the
Sunset" and "Beautiful Isle of
Somewhere." Rev. (Richard Auer
of the Glendive E.U.B. Evangelical United Brethern church officiated.
Pallbearers were Willard Malcom, Henning Steen, Jim O'Con-
ner, Roland Schrader, Ross Com-
eron and Ernie Stark. Honorary
pallbearers were Sam Barkley,
Claude Schouboe, Wallace Pratt,
Wally Hufford, Ed Paulson, Howard Stark, Carl Rose, Carl Thompson and Elmer Wang.